British mom is shocked by the staggering cost of U.S. childcare in viral TikTok

Caroline Parker-Greene is a British mom with two kids living in the US. She has been a SAHM to her kids, but recently started her own business and tangentially decided to put her two kids in daycare “just a couple of days a week, just to give me a break,” she explains in the viral TikTok. 

She goes on to list the prices she received for daycare:

$2,200 for her son 
$1,800 for her daughter
And this was for part-time at her selected daycare. 

“No wonder so many women are stay at home moms in America,” Parker-Greene says.

Parker-Greene says she thought the UK and the US were “very similar.” She used to question why there are so many SAHM in America when “everyone in the UK works.”

She goes on to explain that in the UK, when your child is 2 or 3, and depending on your family income, families get 15 hours of free childcare a week. And if your child is younger than that, families receive a 2.5% tax relief.  

Related: Stay-at-home moms are not OK

“No, women stay at home and they’re depressed…K?” questions Parker-Greene.

She does the math to realize that, with childcare costing around $3,000, she understands why women in America don’t work and stay home with their kids.

“So does that just mean like…I won’t be able to work?” Parker-Greene says. 

And Parker-Greene is not alone. Motherly’s 2022 State of Motherhood Report found that 46% of women left the workforce in 2021 due to the childcare crisis–the “daycare drought” was the No. 1 reason women changed or left their jobs last year. Of those surveyed, 59% of mothers stated they are dissatisfied with their current childcare situation. Even more: 33% of women surveyed reported childcare creates a constant financial strain on their family.

Related: The pandemic cracked open the U.S. childcare crisis. Here’s what could help make it better

This is something my own family experienced in the past year. Now having a one-year-old, we explored many options for childcare, including family (who traveled over an hour to help watch our daughter,) hiring a nanny (EXPENSIVE) before finally getting into a daycare (also expensive, but at least reliable.) We juggled–and still juggle between daycare and family–in order to find a childcare system that works for our family. 

As a full-time working mom, I can say with confidence that childcare bears the most weight on my shoulders.

“Like I said, I’m just unlocking all of these new things,” Parker-Greene said, with a final eyeroll in her viral TikTok. Which I couldn’t help but share.

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